Ryan Giggs, former Manchester United, who played under Sir Alex Ferguson, says Manchester United ‘match-winners’ Eric Cantona, Bryan Robson, Roy Keane and Cristiano Ronaldo were the only players who managed to escape manager’s dreaded ‘hairdryer treatment’ during his time at Manchester United.
Ferguson had a reputation for his fiery dressing downs during his 26-year-spell at Old Trafford and ex-United star Mark Hughes brilliantly dubbed his outbursts the ‘hairdryer’, such was the force of the Scot’s venom.
Being Manchester United’s record goalscorer wasn’t even enough to save one from Ferguson’s wrath, with Wayne Rooney once claiming there was ‘nothing worse’ than being singled out for criticism in the dressing room.
Giggs – who described Ferguson as a ‘master of psychology – claims there were a select few players who had immunity down the years.
There were three or four players that he never had a go at, Cantona was one – Bryan Robson, Roy Keane and Cristiano Ronaldo. They were all in their own ways match-winners.
They did the stuff on the pitch, so he never felt (like he had to). Eric, there were some games where Eric didn’t do anything. He didn’t score, he wasn’t running around like a [Carlos] Tevez or a Wayne Rooney, he didn’t have any impact. But he knew sooner or later he would come good.
We would be sat in the dressing room thinking, ‘He’s got to have a go at him, he’s got to have a pop at him because he didn’t do anything today.
But the next week he’d scored the winner or he would produce a moment of magic, so he handled the big names really well as long as they were doing it on the pitch, he handled them in a different way.
He was the master of psychology, he was a master at getting the best out of certain individuals like whether to put an arm around, or whether to give them a rocket at half-time or at the end of the game or leave them out knowing that the player would react in a positive way.
Ryan Giggs, Former Manchester United player and Wales Manager told beIN SPORTS.
Giggs was not immune from the hairdryer treatment himself and claims he was fined on numerous occasions for giving Ferguson backchat in the dressing room.
I fell out with him plenty of times,’ the former Wales international added. I mean the amount of times I would say over my career, six or seven times where it was a couple of weeks wages I was fined for talking back, for having an argument.
At the time it’s not very nice, you’re in the dressing room, you’ve just got beat or you’ve had a bad performance. And I just couldn’t help myself to have a go back.
He actually, later in his career, he told me he liked that, it meant that you cared. He’d still fine you two weeks because he wanted to show that he was in charge but he actually quite liked it, as long as it didn’t cross the line of course.
Ryan Giggs, Former Manchester United player and Wales Manager told beIN SPORTS.
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